Soon after a judge suspended Emilio Palacio's three-year prison sentence and multimillion-dollar fine for committing libel against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, another judge announced he would hear a new case against the embattled journalist, this time for slander, reported AFP.
In August, the state-run Ecuador TV television network (ECTV) presented a complaint against Palacio, accusing him of calling one of the network's reporters a "fascist."
Palacio, who has fled to Miami, verbally insulted the ECTV reporter Gustavo Espinoza, who was covering a press conference organized by El Universo following the court's Jul. 20 decision to sentence the columnist and three newspaper executives to three years in prison and a $40 million fine for supposed injuries against President Correa.
ECTV President Enrique Arosemena said they were only defending the respect of their reporters and that the charge sought moral, not economic compensation, according the newspaper El Diario de Ecuador.
